Airplane wing



y 1942- E. SEEMAN 2,288,750

AIRPLANE WING Filed Jan. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet l gg /g aeevwn/ mw wgg July 7,1942. E. 1.. SEEMAN 2,288,750

AIRPLANE WING Filed Jan. 8, 1941 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 23052712 See mar/w Patented July 7, 1942 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE IRPLANE WING Ellory L. Seeman, Westpoint, Nebr. Application January s, 1941, Serial No. 373,643 1 5 Claims. (01. 244-44) The invention relates to airplanesand particularly to wing structures, and has for its object to provide means whereby the wing "profile can be increased or diminished according to the conditions under which the airplane is operated, for

instance the profile increased during a landing and taking off operation for obtaining more lift and at a slow speed. The decreasing of the profile of the wing is particularly advantageous at high speeds where less resistance is desired.

A further object is to provide the wingson opposite sides of the fuselage with outwardly and inwardly movable top panels having link connection with bottom walls of the wings andhinged. wing sections extending inwardly from the lead edges of the wings and the trailing edges, and having sliding interengagement with the inwardly and outwardly movable members, for varying the profile of the wings.

A further object is to provide means within the fuselage for simultaneously moving said inwardly and outwardly movable wing top sections.

A further object is to provide means within each wing and cooperating with the hinged top sections of said wing for positively forcing said hinged sections upwardly or downwardly simultaneously with the inwardly and outwardly movable sections forming parts of the tops of the wing.

A further object is to control the inward and outwardly movable sections of the wing tops by rack bars having their inner ends overlapped and a gear train means cooperating with the rack bars from a master gear for simultaneously moving said rack bars outwardly or inwardly during the adjustment of the profile of the wings.

A further object is to control the hinged wing sections through bell crank and lever connections with the rack bars within the fuselage.

With the above and other objects in view the invention resides in the combination and arrangement of parts as hereinafter set forth, shown in the drawings, described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention may be made within the scope of what is claimed without departing from the spirit of the invention.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of a conven- Figure 4 isa top plan'view of the airplane.

Figure 5 is a vertical transverse sectional view through the wing adjusting mechanism within the fuselage. i i I FigureG is a perspective View of the inner ends of the wing control rack bars.

, Figure '7 is a vertical transverse sectional View taken on line of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a detail perspective view of the leverage means for moving thehinged wing sections upwardly or downwardly.

Referring to the drawings,ith'e'numeral I designates the fuselage of a conventional form of airplane and 2 wings extendingoutwardly therefrom. In' the wing description'hereinafter set forth, the construction of one wing will be specificallydescribed and thesame Inumerals will ply to. both wings.

Each wing comprises. a bottom @panel '3 to which is hingedly connected for outward and inward movement, by means of links 4, a top panel 5, which, when moved downwardly towards the bottom panel 3, allows attainment of greater speed, incident to the reduction of air resistance of the wing. Opposite sides of the top panel 5 extend loosely into channels 6 of the hinged front edge I of the wing, and the channel 8 carried by the rear edge of the panel 5 receives slidably and loosely therein the hinged rear section of the top of the wing, therefore it will be seen that when the top panel 5 is moved inwardly or outwardly, the sections 1 and will move therewith; therefore the cross sectional profile of the wing is varied as desired for reducing the air resistance or increasing the air resistance, which increased air resistance can be utilized for slow speed and for facilitatingthe landing and taking off operations. Disposed within the wing are conventional forms of frames l0, and these frames are carried by the bottom panel 3, and preferably are recessed at l I on their upper sides for allowing the collapse of the top panel and bracing the top panel in its extreme collapsed position.

Secured to the under face of each panel 5 is an inwardly extending bar l2. which terminate adjacent opposite sides of the control casing I3 within the fuselage.

The inner ends of the control bars [2 are provided with transversely disposed pins M which extend through vertically elongated apertures 15 in the outer ends of the overlapped rack bars 16, clearly shown in Figures 5, 6 and'l. The rack bars l6 are adapted to be simultaneously moved outwardly or inwardly for controlling the outward and inward movement of the panels 5. This movement is controlled by a relatively wide master gear I! within the casing I3, and which gear may be rotated by a shaft I8 leading to any suitable source of power. The master gear I! has a gear train connection IS with one of the rack bars and a gear train connection 20 with the other rack bar; therefore it will be seen that the panels 5 may be positively moved inwardly or outwardly for expanding or contracting the profile of both wings, and that they are controlled from within the fuselage. To assist in the movement of the panels 5, particular back to normal expanded position, contractible springs 2| are provided within the wings, and which springs are anchored at 22 to the bars 12 and at 23 to the bottom panel 3.

It is desirable to provide positive means for moving the hinged sections 1 and 3 downwardly and upwardly during the movement of the panels 5, ,andrto' accomplishthis result arcuate flanged -members24 :are provided on the under sides of thejsections-T and 9 at spaced points, and these flanged members are engaged by rollers 25 carried by rock levers '2B, hingedly connected at 21 to brackets 28 carried by the bottom panel 3. Connected to the lower ends of each lever 26 by means of a ball and socket joint29 is a connecting rod 30 having a ball and socket connection 3| to one of the arms of a bell crank lever 32 carried by a bracket 33 mounted on the bottom panel 3 of the wing.

Connected by means of ball and socket joints 34 to each bell crank lever 32 are inwardly extending control rods 35 which may be flexible,

if desired,.and these control rods extend inwardly through the wings and into the fuselage I, and are hingedly connected at 36, so they will simultaneously move with the inward and outward movement of the rack 5.

- 7 tion hingedly connected to the following edge of the wing, said sections extending towards each other, a central section, said central section having-slidable connections to the forward and following sections and means for moving said central section towards and away from the tip of the wing for expanding or contracting the wing.

2. :A device as set forth in claim 1 including hinged link connections between thecentral section:and the bottom panel of the wing and hinging transverselyof the wing.

"3. A device: as set'forth inclaim 1' wherein the slidable connection between the upper panel sections is channeledshaped and the channels relatively deep in relation to the portions of the lead and'following sections disposed in the channel, whereby a wide range. of expansionand contraction of the upper panel may be obtained.

LA device as .set forth in claim 1 including spring means for normally-urging the central section. in :one direction.

-5. A device as set forth in claim 1 including means inconnection with the control means for the central .panel 'sectionfor simultaneously controlling the hinged movement of the lead and following panel sections.

ELLORY L. SEEMAN. 

